Entries for this year include descriptions of Dr.Downs' administrative work at the Yale Arbovirus Research Institute; a series of lectures he gave at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health; visits to virus laboratories—both with and without RF funding—in Senegal (Institut Pasteur Dakar), Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, and Colombia; and a series of meetings that Dr.Downs attended in East Africa, Trinidad, and Barbados. Entries from New Haven include a draft of the mission statement of the Yale School of Public Health.

Entries include descriptions of Dr. Downs' visits to international virus laboratories; details on working conferences that he attended in Tokyo, Japan through the Japan-U.S. cooperative Medical Science Program; details on conferences he attended that were hosted by the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board; and notes on the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine in San Francisco. The following countries, and their respective programs, were visited by Dr. Downs: Trinidad (Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory), Suriname, French Guiana (Institut Pasteur), Brazil (Belem Virus Laboratory), Colombia (University of Valle), and Venezuela (Instituto Venozolano de Investigations Cientificas).

Entries for this year describe three conventions that Dr. Downs attends. The first,"Working Conference on Viral Vaccines with Special Emphasis on Japanese Encephalitis," is held in Washington D.C; the second, "Conference on East Coast Fever and Trypanosomiasis," is held at the Bellagio Conference Center in Italy; and the third "AFEB Commission on Malaria," is held at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington D.C.

Between January and April of 1968, Dr. Downs travels to Ibadan, Nigeria; Kampala-Entebbe, Uganda; Tokyo, Japan; Taiwan; Bangkok, Thailand; Calcutta, Vellore and Poona, India; Pakistan; Jamaica; and Port of Spain, Trinidad on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation. Country visits include meetings with RF fellowship applicants; tours of virus laboratories and other public health institutions; and meetings with professional personnel. When relevant, Dr. Downs' entries detail the status and progress of the epidemiological and university development programs that are of interest to the RF. On his trip to Jamaica, Dr. Downs attends the Meeting of Standing Advisory Committee for Medical Research in the British Caribbean. Details of the meeting are discussed in corresponding entries.

Dr. Downs reviews public health programs and the progress of epidemiological research in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Nigeria. While the surveys of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana address the overall status of national public health programs, the reports on Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad, instead, provide details concerning viral research and the growth of arbovirus laboratory programs. The field trip to Nigeria exclusively addresses social, political, technical, and business issues of concern to Nigeria; details of research and programs are not mentioned. Medical cooperation between Japan and the USA is discussed whilst Dr. Downs is in attendance at the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program, Working Conference on Small Pox.

While on extended trips to Colombia and Nigeria, Dr. Down's surveys the status and progress of public health and specifically, evaluates the progress and future of RF involvement in both countries. Epidemiological research at laboratories and public health institutions are also surveyed and Dr. Down's discusses relevant investigations in the diary entries. After returning to the US, Dr. Downs reports to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Diary entries during his stay in San Juan address relevant public health issues and epidemiological research.

Dr. Downs conducts a number of medical, specifically epidemiological, surveys—regarding the progress of public health initiatives and/or research—in Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Barbados, Trinidad, Nigeria, India, Hawaii, and India. While not on trips outside of the country, Dr. Downs dedicates his time to activities at the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit and at the RF New York office. In one correspondence to New York, Dr. Downs indicates that he has become the chairman of the Commission on Malaria, Armed Forces Epidemiological Board.

Apportioning time between the RF office in New York and the Yale office in New Haven, Dr. Downs tends to administrative duties pertaining to the creation of the virus laboratory at the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health. Included in the entries is a description of the agreement between Yale University and the Rockefeller Foundation regarding the establishment on the laboratory. All other entries include records of interviews and meetings; summaries of conferences and discussions had with colleagues in the field; and notes on research being conducted at the Yale virus laboratory. Entries describing Dr. Downs' travels to India, Thailand, Australia, Egypt, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan are also included and summarize the status and progress of epidemiologically related research, programs, and institutions abroad.